SUPPORTERS of the ISPCA retaining control of the Clare County Pound will hold a peaceful protest on Saturday in O’Connell Square, Ennis, at 11am. This follows last Saturday’s event, in which organisers say between 100 and 200 people came out to back their campaign. Protesters marched carrying placards and chanting slogans supporting the ISPCA and dog warden, Frankie Coote.
An online petition calling for the pound to remain in the hands of the ISPCA has received 1,500 signatures so far, with further signatures being gathered on paper at the protests. The protests have been organised by the group Protecting Pound Dogs in Ennis County Clare.
The county pound has been run by the ISPCA, with Frankie Coote as dog warden, for decades. The running of the pound has now been put out to tender, with protesters fearing that it will be removed from the ISPCA.
Clare County Council insist that no decision has been made on the contract.
A spokesperson for Protecting Pound Dogs in Ennis said they were “overwhelmed” with support since the campaign began. She urged people to once again come out on Saturday to show the council “what people power is all about”.
The campaign is also encouraging people to lobby members of Clare County Council.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.